Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
PRNewswire - November 29, 2001
Microbicides are gels or creams that, applied vaginally, could enable women to protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Worldwide, the vast majority of new HIV infections occur through heterosexual transmission, making women especially vulnerable. Women now account for 47 percent of infections globally. A female-controlled prevention method, a microbicide potentially offers a powerful new approach to addressing the global AIDS pandemic.
Research on microbicides has been a top priority at the Population Council for the past 12 years, in large part because the products could be applied prior to sexual activity and not involve the woman's sexual partner. The Council's research has already delivered a highly regarded carrageenan-based microbicide, Carraguard(TM). Carrageenan, a sulfated polysaccharide derived from seaweed, has been used for many years as a stabilizing agent in the food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. To bring this innovative prevention product to women who urgently need it, the Council is working with collaborators in South Africa and Thailand to conduct U.S. FDA-approved expanded safety and acceptability studies on Carraguard. While this testing takes place, researchers are pursuing additional improvements in the formulation, aided by the NICHD grant.
David M. Phillips, of the Council's Center for Biomedical Research, is the principal investigator and director for the new research. Pioneers in antiviral microbicide development, Phillips and his colleagues at the Population Council have created two additional carrageenan formulations.
"As we increase our understanding of the mechanisms of sexual transmission of HIV and other pathogens, we gain insight into new approaches for developing a microbicide that will be more efficacious against HIV and be effective against a broader spectrum of other sexually transmitted pathogens," said Phillips.
Contributing to the research is a team of experienced investigators including Dr. Mary K. Howett of Pennsylvania State University's College of Medicine; Dr. David Katz of Duke University's School of Medicine; and Drs. Melissa Pope and Michael Anazodo of the Population Council's Center for Biomedical Research.
To achieve the research objectives, Howett will test the formulations for their ability to block HIV infection of human vaginal tissue that is grown in mice. Anazodo will examine the stability, toxicity, and pharmacokinetics of modified carrageenan. Katz will examine the spreading and retention properties of the formulations.
Pope will evaluate how the formulations influence dendritic cells (cells of the human immune system) in ways that may reduce the transmission of HIV. Pope, who joined the Council in October, is an accomplished immunologist; her work has contributed to one of the major accepted theories for the mechanism of sexual transmission of HIV. (see related news release http://www.popcouncil.org/news_views/popelab.html)
Population Council is an international, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that conducts biomedical, social science, and public health research in developing countries. For more information, visit the Population Council at http://www.popcouncil.org.
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